Heres a look at are several free apps that can sniff out great deals give you cash back display coupons or reward you in other ways for using them Marc Saltzman for USA TODAY Whether youre shopping for family friends or colleagues or hey even yourself your smartphone can be an invaluable companion as you wander the aisles at your favorite retailer or shop online or a bit of both In fact there are several free apps that can sniff out great deals give you cash back display coupons or reward you in other ways for using them Heres a look at a few noteworthy examples all of which are available on iOS Android and the web More Forget lines At Walmart you can make purchases right where you are this holiday season Swagbucks Photo Swagbucks Swagbucks Get cash back while you shop online at more than 1 500 retailers including big names like Amazon Walmart and Target Thats the premise behind Swagbucks an app that rewards you SB points which can then be redeemed for free gift cards at Amazon Walmart Starbucks and many other places or you can choose to get cash back via PayPal In other words shop at the places you normally would but youll first launch the Swagbucks app website or use the Swagbutton browser extension The percentage you get back from each retailer will vary but it can add up plus there are some exclusive deals and coupons too The Swagbucks app also awards you SB points for other activities like watching videos answering surveys searching the web and more More 8 apps we used to save money on gas hotels and shopping More Looking to save money on a new phone or phone plan Here are a few tips Flipp Photo Flipp Flipp Rather than sorting and cutting through all the paper circulars you get each week and getting newsprint on your hands in the process Flipp is a free app that delivers your local circulars right to your phone and calls out the best deals too Heres how it works the first time you open the app let the phone identify where you are or type in your ZIP code Then youll see your screen populate with those circulars flyers for stores near you whether its a big box electronics store clothing chain home improvement center supermarket and so on and youll can now flick through them all and virtually clip items into a shopping list by tapping it Or tap and hold for more info Speaking of the shopping list you can type a word like headphones and youll see the related deals near you Another tip is to tap the flame icon at the bottom of the screen to see all the best sale prices Or tap the magnifying glass to search by keyword The app also holds all your loyalty and rewards cards so you dont need to carry a pocket- or purse-full of plastic Ebates Similar to the revenue share model with other apps like Swagbucks and Ibotta where the company splits the commission referral with you Ebates has more than 2 500 store partners and is offering double cash back at participating retailers too for a limited time For example youll usually get 3 percent cash back by shopping at Macys by first starting at Ebates but youll now get 6 percent back Similarly Ebates would normally pay you 6 percent of the shared revenue at Shoescom but you can now expect 12 percent You get the idea After you make an eligible purchase youll earn cash back in the form of a check or PayPal payment every quarter The app also offers exclusive deals as well as sales and coupons too More Black Friday 2018 Best Buys ad is a must-see for electronics gifts Slickdeals Photo SlickDeals Slickdeals Heres another handy shopping companion for leading up to or on Black Friday Dubbed the largest deal-sharing community on the web the company says millions of people regularly use the Slickdeals app to discover share and rate the best deals and coupons for their favorite stores Essentially wherever theres an outstanding deal like 50 percent off the hottest tech toy at Best Buy a 2-for-1 special at Groupon or a code to use at Kohls Slickdeals may promote these on its front page of the app or site To ensure its legitimate every deal gets vetted by the community through votes and comments and the good ones move up to the Popular Deals forum Then the best Popular Deals are screened by the companys editors after getting enough votes to be considered for the front page Theres also a dedicated Black Friday page too Alternatively you can set a Deal Alert and get notified whenever a deal matching what youre looking for is posted on Slickdeals such as when the 60-inch TV you had your eye on drops below 800 for the first time To find other deals this season also consider other good shopping-related apps including eBay Pricegrabber RetailMeNot Craigslist and Red Laser available in the iOS App and Google Play stores What are your go to shopping apps and why Please tell us in the Comments section or on Twitter Reviewed part of the USA TODAY NETWORK is vetting hundreds of holidays sales each day to bring you only the best deals on recommended products Read the best pre-Black Friday deals so far